#also I had a hammer thrown at me like this as a kid I'm allowed to write this lol

[egg-emperor]

kinda confused about whether Sage can actually interact with things and have a solid form as she's an AI program and is glitchy and cyberized just like the characters trapped in their Cyber Space forms that don't. I assumed no as a result but somehow she can seem to push the Egg Mobile which is weird but she can phase out and teleport anyway so maybe both, if not she can at least teleport away so -

anyway it got me thinking about how Sage could possibly be safe from being smacked around by Eggman both intentionally or accidentally by him, unlike his robot "kids", as I showed maaany examples of in my video. so I thought about how physical he gets by thumping and throwing things when he's mad, with his robots sometimes being his target or he even accidentally whacks them in the process too so he's very dangerous when angry either way. he even did this tons around Sage in Frontiers while yelling at her in case you forgot which was actually kinda messed up but-

so after Sage comes into the picture, the robots try to use this to their advantage. whenever Eggman having another of his tantrums, robots like Orbot and Cubot always try to steer clear of him in case they end up getting fucked up by him again in the line of fire or become an object of his anger. but sometimes they have no choice but to because they were supposed to be aiding him with something. so they beg Sage to go in the room he's in and try to carry out that order, calm him down, or whatever else. they think she'll have a higher chance because she seems better at it than they are

sometimes this results in her entering the room to see Eggman stomping around, thumping and destroying things, throwing stuff around in a fit of rage as he does. when he sees red he just goes crazy with it and is so blinded by rage sometimes that he doesn't care how or what he's destroying, even when it's at the expense of his safety and everything around him, no matter the worth. this also leads to him not looking at where he's throwing things or he does it on purpose to get people to keep away from him, which his robots have had to deal with the consequences of

but luckily things can go right through Sage, either because she doesn't take a solid form or phases out fast and teleports around while he's throwing things like heavy objects and tools in a rage. she masterfully dodges a huge monitor or a spanner just goes right through her. she may flinch from stuff flying her way or his aggressive moves or yelling to the extent she was affected in game but she's a lot safer than Orbot and Cubot and others! she just has the challenge of dodging his Olympics expert level throws while also trying to speak up in her small voice over the big angry man's grumbling and yelling

Sage has to become used to finding Orbot and Cubot waiting outside a door with Eggman's muffled yelling and sound of bashing and crashing in the distance while the two bots are like "us robots can't go in there, please help us out sis!" and it works as she braces it and hovers in to deal with another one of her manchild father's tantrums again XD

[nopeferatu]

okayyyy i guess ill just write abt some things that i wanna get out before i forget to??

- LOVE, love love how they made ennis the one who initiated all of the romantic affection between the two. literally insane over it. it feels so in-character, considering ennis has probably been affection starved since his mother died when he was a kid. of course he has alma, but do we really get the sense that ennis was ever very affectionate with her? could he have been, in rural, christian, wyoming, where conervative notions of courtship prevail? did he even want to be, knowing that the only person he shows real attraction towards is a man? who knows. we just know that he was craving love, and lucas did an amazing job at capturing that need.

- the "'lets ranch up together', 'no bc earl and rich'" conversation happens after ennis tells jack that he'd divorced alma...a year and a half earlier. what an interesting change! it seems like both adaptations, movie and play, mess around with that specific sequence of events. i really enjoyed what it brought to this specific show, though, because in the script it's described as a "gut-punch" to jack when ennis tells him he already left alma in response to jack telling ennis that he'd decided to leave lureen. it really hammers home the idea that jack thought it was just their wives getting in the way of their life together all that time. it was framed wayyy different than jack driving up 14 hrs after getting his hopes up thanks to a phonecall or a postcard from ennis abt the divorce, but it still hits the beat it's supposed to, where we as the audience can see that its the first time their relationship shifts—and not for the better.

- "little darlin'."I got to hear "LITTLE DARLIN'" not just once, but TWICE. still not over it.

- the show also brought more...i guess, explicit attention to the fact that ennis really only wants to do ranch work, and how much that affects his family. i know its present in all the texts, but the new conversations he and alma have regarding the various 'city jobs' she tries to rope him into and the dead-end ranch jobs that keep going belly up from underneath him are just really sad. he's someone who craves wide open spaces, and the beauty of film allowed heath to capture this hunched, clenched, uncomfortable look and feel of a man who seems too big for any room he's in. ennis is not happy in domesticity. he's a saddle bum through and through, and out with nature is where he belongs. but since theatre (esp theatre in-the-round) doesn't have the luxury of different set dressing, those conversations and arguments bw ennis and alma capture that same bit of characterization.

- i...dunno how i feel about mike's jack, if i'm honest? lucas was incredible. i think he brought just the right amount of taciturn and tender, rage and remorse to a role that needs all of that in an actor. i think mike's jack was a little...idk. too big, if you get me? like there were certain line deliveries that i felt could've been said differently, or had different emotions behind them than the ones i was picking up on. i know stage is different, so in both cases, the actors went VERY big (heath's quiet, simmering rage is a completely different beast against lucas' loud, screaming outburtsts, for example), but...idk. there was just something about mike's jack that threw me off? I told my friend that I was iffy about his performance, and without prompt she said, "I didn't like how much he laughed at everything" and I think I feel the same. For example, the "I didn't want none of either kind but fuck all has worked the way i wanted, nothing has ever come to my hand the right way" line was said really jolly, without much of a edge to it, and i think thats what's thrown me off-kilter so much. in mike's performance, i didn't feel the bitter edge to a lot of his lines that occur later on in the script that are apparent to me not only in jake gyllenhaal's performance, but in the SS text, itself.

He was technically very good and I love the silly things he'd do to get ennis to open up, but he was a little too jovial, not enough bitchy, not enough moody and sassy like jake's jack. i see a lot of jake's jack in mike's performance bc aside from a few lines about how much jack likes the rodeo, all we can really glean from either characters in the SS text is that ennis is quiet, and that jack talks a lot. im not trying to compare the two performances too much bc they are fundamentally different actors working in different mediums, but heath and jake brought a lot of dimsension into charas who could have turned out waaaay different had different actors played them and gotten in touch w different emotions within the script, so i can see how other actors could look to the film for a lot of inspo on how to go about portraying ennis and jack while trying to do their own things as well. my issue is that jack becomes very heartsick and bitter and just plain fed up with everything about his life by the time their last trip rolls around, but play!jack never let that bitterness start to show, so by the time that jack does his whole "i wish i knew how to quit you" monologue, it felt very abrupt to see him screaming and yelling and hollering at ennis like that.

i dunno, after seeing tons of ppl in the brokeback tag over the past few months saying that mike faist was their favorite jack, i was actually really expecting a lot more? but as it stands, jake gyllenhaal still reigns supreme. he captured every facet of jack twist that makes him so compelling to read and write and think about and analyze, and mike, while he was still very good, didn't do that nearly as well imho.

- the play firmly cemented to me that jack twist is just bottom coded, i guess

- some of the music hit at different scenes than i had initially thought they would?? i thought the play would end on "hale strew river" playing in the bg as *SPOILER* old!ennis holds the ghost/dream/memory version of young!jack in a mirror of the way he'd held jack by the campfire on brokeback in '63. but that was not the case. this is an instance of where my heightened expectations made the reality seem kind of disappointing in comparison. i'm also kind of sad that my other favorite song, "beneath the moon," was only featured as a diegetic recording heard on a clock radio (NOT live), and it was played during a scene between alma and ennis. Like, looking back at the lyrics it makes sense:

Why don't you take me for a stroll into the sunset

Another lonely summer's day is ending soon

Oh, let us walk another mile into the twilight

And let me be alone with you beneath the moon

But i thought that it was going to be played during a scene where another one of jack's frequent proposals of a life together gets rejected. when the soundtrack for the play was released it gave me the same vibes as "i dont want to say goodbye", one of the few original songs on the movie soundtrack, and i was POSITIVE that this was a jack-longing-for-ennis song. like, it's all about sunsets and twilight and the moon and all this outdoor imagery, and as we all know, jack and ennis are literally only together underneath the sunsets and twillight and moon! so im actually really sad it wasn't an ennis/jack moment :c

- the actor who played jack's dad played the role a lot more emotionally than i expected. movie!john is very, again, muted and quietly bitter, just like all these characters are. play!john seemed really...what i can only describe as choked up? like, he was shouting and got really riled up in his "jack used to say" monologue at ennis, and there was some disgust in there and a lot of anger, but what i actually read was more like him telling ennis "you're part of the reason why my son is gone." and then he gets up and walks away from the table, and exits the stage. it was really really heartbreaking. maybe i have a different read on the performance than what was intended, but it opens up a whole new side to john twist that i think would be interesting to explore.

- theres a few little added lines of dialogue on jack's part that are great. when they leave brokeback and are heading away in opposite directions, jack turns back around and goes "ennus-" as though he's going to make his proposal to start a life together then and there, but ennis knowingly cuts him off and says smth like "see you around, jack twist", and shakes his hand goodbye. there was another moment (the divorce admission, the rich and earl confession scene) where jack is talking about their sweet life together, and hes talking about them being in rocking chairs on their porch in front of a nice fire and ughhghf....it called to mind this line in one of my all-time fave fics, Recompense:

Couldn't set out on the porch, just set, quiet and together; there wasn't any porch, wasn't even any house, where they could be seen setting. Start hauling their canes, their bifocals, damn electric blankets, up in back of the pickup? They couldn't have that life. They couldn't have any life at all. The weight of Jack's misery, pressing all around, seemed enough to cave him in.

one i didnt like, though, was when jack and ennis are wrestling, jack gets pinned under ennis and says "sheep be damned!" before ennis kisses him in the first romantic display of affection we see bw the two. also when the sheep get mixed up, ennis has a meltdown and tells jack that aguirre will realize the counts off and put 2 & 2 together that they're fooling around, and he yells smth along the lines of their trist being "sick", and Jack says smth like, "you sure didn't seem to think it was sick this past month."

this is just a me thing honestly bc i'm kind of a SS purist in some instances, and one thing that always stuck with me is that jack and ennis never talk about the sex they're having when they're on brokeback. aside from the "im not no queer" convo, the sex wasn't even alluded to; they just "let it happen," and i think thats veryyy in-line for a character like ennis. i think jack would love to talk about it, but he doesn't wanna spook ennis away, so he keeps his mouth shut. i dont think either of them would speak, even in a roundabout way, abt their sex life when they're 19 on brokeback, and thats why the whole "redlined it all the way couldnt get here fast enough" line is so revelatory imo, bc its the first time either of them acknowledge the conscious choice theyre making to fuck. so idk. i didnt really care for the fact that they were (somewhat) openly referring to their tryst while still on brokeback

- less a note of the show and more a note of the audience, but i saw the show twice and the first night i saw it, the audience laughed at REALLY sad and serious moments that i in no way thought were laugb worthy, and i felt like maybe i was taking the work too srsly until i saw the final performance and THAT audience didnt laugh at any of those really sad moments. so i got rly irritated abt that the first night cause it wasnt even like the lines were delivered in a jokey way or anythibg....

anyways. i need to sleep. look out for some other posts cause im sure ill have more to say the longer i stew on it

[socialoutsiderwritings]

To Mend and Break 5

Tony Stark made sure to keep his kids out of the limelight when he was granted custody of them after their mother’s death. The world knew very little of the Stark twins and Tony wanted to keep it that way. For the most part they knew one was a genius and the other was daddy’s spoiled princess. But when Tony starts acting out of control , the twins are thrown in the middle of the crossfire , allowing the world to really see them. They now have to make a choice that will change their lives forever.

Pairings: Tony Stark x (FAB21+)Daughter!reader x son!OC

You removed the earbuds from your ears and wrapped the wire around your hand, as you walked up the driveway. Anthony was leaning against the trunk of his car, waving at you.

“Yo!” He pushed himself off the trunk. He waited for you to reach him and then proceeded to walk up to his house. “I’ve been calling you all morning. Why didn’t you pick up?”

“I turned my phone off. Didn't feel like talking.” You answer. You unclip the shuffle player from your sports shirt strap, “You need new music by the way.” You wait for Anthony to open his front door and hand it to him.

“Oh shit!” Anthony exclaimed excitedly, grabbing it. “I haven't used this thing since middle school.” He laughed to himself, admiring the shuffle player. Then his face fell as he remembered. “You know… some of those songs were for shits and giggles, right? I would never listen to that unironically.”

He followed you into his kitchen. You didn't bother responding to him as you poured yourself a glass of whatever. You drank the entire glass and then placed the cup in the sink.

You let out a sigh and shrugged. “Whatever, dude." you leaned back against the sink. "I know this is your house and all, but what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be busy.”

“I wasn't the only trying to reach you this morning." He admits. "Pepper called. Dad was supposed to give this speech at the Expo, and as expected he wont be attending."

"I'm his replacement." You hung your head in realization.

"Yeah." Anthony confirmed. "I would go but...you know." He shrugged. "I did bring something sweet to make up for it though." He unzipped his backpack and pulled out a colorful bag from inside. The logo on the bag read 'Randy's Donuts' a donut place your dad would always take you to before school.

You walk over to your brother and grab the bag from his hand. IN a childish way, you opened the bag to grab the donut and take a big bite from it. "It helps," you cover your mouth as you chew, "it does help a little."

Anthony smiles at you. He pulls the stool out from the island for you to sit. "Coffee?" he asks as he walk around the kitchen, "Milk?"

"Coffee. Please." You continued enjoying your donut. "This speech," you began, "what am I supposed to be talking about exactly?"

Anthony stayed quiet, now setting the cup of coffee in front of you. "See, heres the funny thing," he chuckles nervously. You stare at him now, not interested in the donut anymore. "You'll be..giving a speech on (unintelligible)."

"Sorry?"

Anthony clears his throat, nervously. "Justin Hammer." He says somewhat more clearly.

You set the donut down and angrily get up from the stool. "Gloves. Now."

——————————⎊——————————

“I know you're upset but do we really have to do this?"

“I’m not a performing monkey, Anthony. You can’t expect me to parade myself out there like dad isn't dying and also expect me to be nice to Justin Hammer.”

"I get it." He rolls his eyes, "you don't like the guy."

"That's putting it lightly." You take your stance and slowly and cautiously approach your brother. "Start."

He quickly reacted, dodging you sudden fake left hook. "Whoa," he gasps, "take it easy. This isn't a real match." he tells you.

"Nope. But my irritation is."

Another fake, this time with your dominant arm, followed by a quick fake with the other, and then another punch with more force. Anthony blocked the first hit; he was taken aback by the two that followed he had just barely blocked the last hit.

“Come on. He just wants to be friends.” He chuckles. He punched his knuckles together a couple times and gestured you forward with his right hand.

“Don’t go crying to daddy when I kick your ass.”

“Whatever.” He shrugged. “Just don’t go for the face.” He says as he rushes you.

You plant one of your legs behind you, to keep yourself balanced, raised both your arms up and brought your elbows down on his back.

He let out a loud groan and fell forward. You moved out of the way before he hit the ground. You looked down at him and laughed. “That made me feel a little better.” You smile to yourself, stepping around him as you began walking away.

He kicked his leg up, with enough momentum to get you in the shin and swing his lower body under to get back on his feet. You fell to the floor on your front with a loud thud. You turn on your back and prop yourself up on your forearms.

Anthony is jumping in place, hitting his knuckles together and laughing at you. “You're right. I do feel a little better now too.”

You kicked yourself up on your feet. "You're gonna pay for that."

Anthony’s reflexes were good, but not great. You always had the upper hand when you increased your speed. And that’s exactly what you did. You moved fast, mixing your punches with fakes mostly. You were punching mercilessly.

“Ok!” He grunted, protecting mostly his face now. “I give!” You got him right in his side and he groaned. “I said ‘i give’.” he moaned in pain.

You raised your hands up and stepped away from him, letting him know you were done and it was safe for him to move freely. You sat down on the sofa and began removing the gloves from your hands. Anthony did the same, on the opposite couch. He groaned as he sat down, grabbing his side. “I forgot how hard you hit when you’re mad.” He pouted, rubbing his side.

“I barely touched you.” You said it so casually, like you really meant it,

Anthony stopped what he was doing and stared at you. There was a shift in the atmosphere and you just knew. You could feel his eyes on you but you pretended like you didn’t to avoid the conversation he was going to bring up.

“Have you checked your socials lately?" he begins. "You'll be alright attending the Expo tonight, right?"

You thought it over a moment, setting the gloves aside and undoing the wraps. "Not today, no. And I'm a big girl, Anthony. I think I can handle a crowd and a few flashing lights for a while."

He nodded, "right. Totally." He hesitantly agreed. "Yeah, absolutely." He continued.

You gave him a questioning glance. He was looking around his own place nervously. "You okay over there?"

"Yeah." he lies. "I'm gonna get going." He stands up. "Keep your phone on, yeah," he walks away. "I'll see when you get back."

——————————⎊——————————

You blew air out between your lips and stared at your phone. It was still off. But you were debating whether to turn it back on or not.

Since Anthony had brought the subject earlier that morning, you were curious why he had asked that question. You wanted to avoid it but, the curiosity remained like an itch you couldn't scratch away.

You reached for your glass of wine, gulped down the rest of it, and grabbed the wine bottle. You didn’t realize it was empty until you tried to pour yourself another and nothing came out. You tsked and set the wine bottle aside.

You frowned down at your phone again. You cursed under your breath and grabbed your phone, holding the power button until the screen lit up. You nervously tapped your fingers on the side of the phone and watched the screen until the passcode screen came up. You tapped in your passcode and immediately searched for the bird icon. The app opened; your instincts were telling you to throw your phone halfway across the room but it still remained hand.

Your name was now the top trending in the world. You clicked on the hashtag to open up the main page. There were now talking about you for a completely different reason. A ridiculous one; but still it struck a nerve. Without realizing it, you tightened your grip on your phone in anger as you read through the threads.

You were startled by the doorbell ringing, you accidentally crushed your phone in your hand. “Shit.” Your phone fell in to halves on the countertop. You winced when you tried to open your palm. Blood began to drip down your hand and you rushed over to the kitchen sink, forcing your hand open through the pain.

The doorbell rang again.

"Fuck." You muttered. You ran your hand under the cold water, picking out the shards of glass that got stuck in your skin and washing the blood away with it. The more you washed your hands the less blood there was; until there was no longer anymore blood.

You pressed the palm of your injured hand with your fingers, searching for the little cuts. You turned off the water, dried off your hand and examined it closely. There were no cuts, no scars, nothing. Your palm was completely fine, like nothing happened to it.

You cleaned up the glass and tossed your now broken phone in the garbage can. The doorbell rang again and you ran out of the kitchen to the front door, "Coming!" You yelled.

The doorbell rang again just as you opened the front door. "oh," you leaned back slightly, "you must be Director Fury."

"What gave it away?" He asks sarcastically. "The eyepatch?"

You stared dumbfounded. "I-I'm sorry. If you're looking for my brother. He left a while ago."

"Nope. I think I found just who i'm looking for." You stepped back and you moved to the side as he let himself in. "You know, Agent Natasha Romanoff, right?" As he asked, Natalie, or Natasha walked from around the corner of the house, smiling at you.

"Yeah," you stated coldly, "apparently." You allowed her in and followed them back to the kitchen.

"Wooo," Nick Fury hooted as he grabbed the empty bottle of wine from the island, "and it's not even noon yet."

"Uhh, i'm sorry, you said you were looking for me? Why? What did I do?" You look between the two.

Fury glances at Natasha and then pulls the stool out to take a seat. "Sit down." He gestures.

"No, thank you. Look, I'm sorry whatever it is, can it wait? I have a to be at the airport soon."

"Well, ok." He exhaled, slapping his hands down on his thighs, "long story short, we're assigning you a protection detail."

"What? You're joking, right?" You almost wanted to laugh, but the serious expression on Fury's face was indication enough that he was, in fact, serious. "I’m a grown woman. I don’t need a babysitter, ok." you argue. "I don't need her."

"Agent Romanoff will remain undercover at Stark Industries. We've assigned you a different agent. They'll be waiting for you at the airport."

"Call them off. I won't be needing them."

"You don't have a choice." He tells you. "I've been asked, as a personal favor, to ensure your safety on this trip. And that's exactly what I am going to do, dammit." He stood up off the stool. "Agent Romanoff, take her to the airport."

"I haven't packed."

"Already taken care of Miss Stark. Follow me."

[elizabethemerald]

I'm not sure if I already requested something, but how about poly Jim/Toby/Claire/Darci with Toby as the trollhunter?

Hello again Friend! Here’s another finished request for you. This one got a little long, but it may be one of my favorite prompts I’ve received. 

If anyone else has any requests feel free to send them my way! Also I wrote Claire using they/them pronouns, so if I messed their pronouns somewhere please let me know. 

A role swap AU. For once Toby beat his friend Jim into the canals. The amulet called his name. Jim found himself wielding a staff powered by dark energies, his fate marked by Morgana’s magic. Jim’s girlfriend Claire found a hammer with gravity powers. When Merlin convinced Toby to step into a bathtub filled with a black potion Darci dove in after him desperate to save him. Eventually Toby, Darci, Claire and Jim realized they all loved each other, and there was no sense in pretending they didn’t. This story takes place several years after they would have graduated high school, now all four of them living together. 

The rock they sheltered behind rumbled and cracked as another powerful blow landed on it. Toby crouched, Daylight in his hand. His horns and long arms made him look even more like his adopted father and wingman Aaarrrgghh. His lovers were hiding behind the rock with him. 

Jim held his staff, arcane runes carved along its length. It wasn’t as powerful as the Skath-Hrun was, but it provided an ideal focus for his sorcery. His short black hair with it’s white stripe fluttered with his magical energy. His eyes were filled with blue fire, and more of the cerulean flames washed down his arms. 

Darci flexed her wings her claws digging into the stone. When Merlin had tricked Toby into using the potion, Darci had dove into the bathtub after her boyfriend. She emerged with a troll form all her own. Claire had joked once that she looked like she could be Strickler and Nomura’s daughter. While Toby looked like a baby Krubera, Darci was skinny with black hooves and massive wings that could carry her through the sky. 

Claire twirled their warhammer in their hands. The massive weapon with its purple fires and gravity powers. They smiled grimly at the others, in their trademark Papa Skull sweatshirt. The sleeves were ripped off to show off their arms. Their black hair with it’s purple stripe was carefully pulled back and contained with multiple barrets. 

“This guy is huge! He’s shrugged off everything we’ve thrown at him.” Claire said. It was rare that monster they faced survived even one blow from their hammer, much less came back for thirds. 

“We have to hit him with everything we’ve got!” Toby said looking around at his lovers. “Darci and Claire when I give you the word, you two take to the air. Darci try and get behind him.” Darci nodded, stretching her wings then crouched ready to take off. Her twin swords were strapped across her lower back. “Claire when you see your moment you bring the heavy hits.”

“I’ll bring a few meteors with me!” Claire said as they crouched next to Darci. Their hammer in their hands ready to rocket towards the ceiling of the cavern. 

“Jim and I will give you a distraction to get into the air. Then Jim you bring the fire from the sides and I’ll go right up the center.” 

Jim nodded and began tracing arcane symbols into the side of the boulder they were sheltering behind. “And for godsakes don’t get killed.” Jim said. “At least stay alive long enough for me to put you back together.”

Toby allowed his helmet to cover his face, he vanished Daylight and pulled out his smaller blades, holding them ready to throw. Then nodded to Jim. 

“Azaz terra!” Jim cried. 

Toby threw both of his glaives so they curved around the boulder. The rock itself rocketed forward slamming into the massive troll on the other side. A curtain of blue fire rose up almost to the ceiling. Claire swung their hammer upward and took off with a roar. Darci leapt into the air and with a powerful beat of her wings soared off. Toby jumped in front of Jim slashing with Daylight as it appeared again in his hand. The slash was perfectly timed to split the boulder in half as the troll threw it back in their direction. 

The troll was huge. Possibly larger than Gunmar had been. And twice as durable. The massive creature picked up two more large boulders and pulled his arms back to throw them. 

Before he could release them Darci dove out of the darkness with a shriek. Her twin blades bit deep into his back. She hung on desperately as he tried to throw her off. Her attack left the troll’s front wide open. 

Toby flung Daylight with all his strength. It embedded itself almost up to the hilt in the troll’s chest. Then the Trollhunter slammed his fists together. The armor manifested a pair of studded gauntlets that covered him up to the elbows. Toby’s favorite stone for his amulet. He wasn’t as strong as Aaarrrgghh, but with the gauntlets he could hit just as hard. He roared and charged. 

Several powerful punches forced the troll to reel back. The troll tried to crush Toby in between the two boulders in his hands. Toby barely managed to stop the two rocks, but now he was exposed. 

Toby felt a foot land on his back and just like they had practiced he knelt a little then jumped, propelling Jim into the air. The sorcerer slammed his flaming staff again and again into the troll’s face, driving him even further back. 

“Everyone get clear!” Claire’s call was immediately followed by a thunderous crack above them. Darci pulled her blades free and dove backwards flapping hard to regain altitude. Toby flexed his hands and crushed the boulders into rubble. Jim stayed on top of the troll battering his face with his flaming staff, blue flames pouring from his eyes like tears. Toby vanished his gauntlets and grabbed Jim by the collar of his blue zip up and pulled him back. 

The Trollhunter covered his love with his body as a enormous stalactite driven down by Claire’s gravity powers crashed into the troll. Claire rode the rock down their hammer in their hand; they dove off at the last second. With a deafening crash the stalactite crushed the troll. 

The rumbling continued for several minutes as more and more rubble fell from the ceiling, dust filling the room. After the noise finally quit Toby could hear Darci’s powerful wingbeats blowing the dust away. He could also hear Claire calling for him and Jim. He stood up straight shoving some of the rocks off his back. Jim uncurled his body from where Toby had been sheltering him. 

“Oh there you are! I was afraid I buried you!” Claire said landing by their side. 

“You almost did bury Jim.” Toby said. “That whole don’t die part applies to you too, Jim the self sacrificing!”

Jim smiled weakly, “I had to hold him where he was or the cave in wouldn’t have worked.”

Claire glared at him. “You already got him in position, he wasn’t going anywhere.”

Toby carefully wiped a bit of blood from Jim’s brow. Now that he wasn’t performing his magic, Jim’s eyes were back to the regular blue. “Is anyone else injured?” Toby asked.

Darci landed carefully on a rock. “I think one of the stones hit me. I going to have bruise the size of your fist on my wing when we get back home.”

Claire was immediately at her side opening up the wing in question to inspect the bruise. “I’m sorry Darc! I didn’t want any of you to get hurt!” 

Toby stretched his back, twisting this way and that. Between his troll hide and the armor of Daylight he was mostly uninjured. A few bruises and scrapes, but nothing serious. He smiled at Claire and they tried to hide how upset they were that they had hurt two of their lovers. He summoned his blade back to his hand, then allowed his armor to disappear. 

“Alright everyone let’s get back to the house. We can talk more once we are away from the potential for a worse cave in.”

Jim’s eyes glowed blue and he clapped his hands together. As he slowly pulled his hands apart a whirling black portal opened, wreathed in blue flames. 

“Try not to get any dust in the house! I just cleaned.” He said as the portal opened large enough for them all to pass through. 

“Yes dear.” Claire said. They kissed him on the cheek and ducked under his outstreatched arm into the portal. 

“Yes honey.” Darci said and kissed him on his other cheek and ducked under his other arm. 

“Of course Jim.” Toby said as walked through the portal on the other side. 

Jim was alone on top of the rubble and allowed the portal to cover him bringing him into his basement. The others were quickly moving out of the portal corner of the basement. One corner had been designated as his portal location, always kept free of belongings and people so noone was ever injured from a sudden portal. 

“Jim if you were going to magically clean all of us with your portal anyways, why even mention the dust?” Claire asked their arms crossed. Jim could only smile and shrug in response. They all made their way out of the basement into the rest of their house. 

* * *

With four incomes they were able to afford a very nice place. It was far enough from Arcadia that they could be anonymous without the people they saved trying to worship them, but close enough that they could get back to Heartstone Trollmarket if there was a crisis. Like the houses in Arcadia the house had three levels. The basement was primarily used by Jim for his magic and portaling. There was also a tunnel that lead eventually to the Arcadia sewers. 

All four of them had different jobs, now that they were no longer kids. Darci had a job that Toby would have loved when he was a kid. She was a full time “Costumed” streamer. She played up her troll form as a monstersona, pretending her wings and horns were cunning prosthetics. She almost exclusively played horror games. Occasionally she would have her partner or boyfriends appear on camera. 

People laughed at Toby’s monstersona. How could two people who are willing to spend that kind of money for those quality monster costumes, just happen to fall in love? Toby is the one she brings on when she wants someone to scream for the camera. Claire usually makes fun of the goofy monsters in the games, though jump scares will get them as well. Jim doesn’t react at all to the monsters or jumpscares. Though he will make Darci stop in the middle of a game so he can critique the grotesque displays and summoning rituals the games use. 

Jim works as a P.I. He jokes sometimes that P.I. could stand for either Private Investigator or Paranormal Investigator. He helps people find lost relatives or catch cheating spouses. After what his mom went through with his dad, he wasn’t going to let anyone else get away with abandoning their family. It was also a job that allowed him some freedom, just in case the lost child he was supposed to return to her parents had a good reason not to be with them. Or if his eyes occasionally rolled into the back of his while he incanted in trollish noone would think twice. 

Claire had the most normal job of all them. They taught at the local school. Toby had laughed when he said at least one of them should have good health insurance considering their other job of protecting trolls. It had been a bit of a struggle for Claire to get their teacher’s certification but it was definitely worth the work. They were loved by their students, who knew they could bring anything to the them and Claire would have their backs. If any of their students happened to see something magical they could tell Claire that as well and their teacher would believe them.

Toby of course was the Trollhunter. They all realized that there was no real point in Toby trying to maintain a day job.  Especially once Merlin tricked him into giving up his humanity. Trollhunting was his full time job. Fortunately now with Blinky as the head of Trollmarket, Toby received a small amount of financial compensation for his hero work. That helped pay for Toby’s share of the mortgage. 

All four of them hung out in the kitchen while Jim saw to their wounds. He inspected Darci’s wing to make sure there wouldn’t be any lasting damage. Then he saw to Toby’s scrapes. He had managed to discover a much more effective way of caring for troll skin than molten metal, and less expensive as well. Next Jim cared for Claire’s bruised foot which they didn’t notice in the earlier excitement. Belatedly and at the insistence of his lovers he carefully bandaged the cut on his own eyebrow. 

Darci and Claire collapsed onto the couch, Darci’s wing a little stiff and Claire’s foot carefully wrapped with an ice pack. Toby walked in with his specially designed phone held up to his face. 

“No don’t worry, we took care of the bruiser!”

Aaarrrgghh’s concerned words could be heard on the other side. “You are OK?”

“Yep, no worries Dad! No reason for you and Blinky to end your honeymoon early.”

Toby kept walking into the kitchen, passing Jim going the other way. Jim had several trays laden with food, some that suited troll appetites, some for human ones. He sat down on the couch in between Claire and Darci. He paused to kiss both of them before getting comfortable. Finally Toby walked back into the room putting his phone on the table. 

“Is it time for a movie my lovelies?” Toby rumbled. He walked down the length of the couch giving each of them a kiss as he did. Darci caught him with her uninjured wing to give him a second kiss. Jim laughed and when he kissed Toby blew a small blue fire into the half troll’s mouth. He laughed harder as the tickle of blue flame came out of his nose. Toby teased Claire by staying just out of reach so she couldn’t get her kiss, that is until she used her power to increase the gravity of his head so he was within kissing range. 

Finally he sat down heavily on his side of the couch. The side of the couch that had been reinforced by every troll trick or magic his lovers could come up with. Sometimes it still sagged. He let out a deep purr of happiness as him and his three other lovers cuddled up in front of the TV, the sound of movie playing softly until one by one they each fell asleep.

You know what I don’t need right now? Another AU to write. I’m hoping this will be all I write, because I already have too many ideas. But I might come back to this idea later.